OUR TEAM
The Leadership & Freedom Center team embodies a carefully selected group of leaders. With over 400-combined years of multi-disciplinary experience these individuals
are masters in mindfulness, team building, emotional intelligence, wellness, resiliency,
clinical psychology, equine therapy, U.S. Special Operations, national security,
cyber security and nutrition.
SHAWN CASSIDY
Founder & CEO
Growing up in a large close knit military family, Shawn learned that character, family values and trusted relationships were everything. Throughout college and his working career, Shawn has been committed to understanding how one’s mental, emotional, physical and spiritual mindset and performance can be optimized to reach their highest human potential and inspire and maximize the efforts of others to achieve a greater good through the power of fully engaged TEAMS. As a leadership strategist, Shawn teaches and trains on emotional intelligence, mindfulness, resiliency, and forging trusted teams. Additionally, he introduces and teaches trusted leader and team behaviors that are critical to attract, inspire and retain the best team members.
Shawn and his Team serve clients in the U.S. Special Operation Forces (SOF), U.S. security and intelligence agencies, law enforcement and diversified companies nationwide. Shawn founded the Leadership and Freedom Center, The Institute for Cyber Threat Defense and is Co-Founder and President of the Lodges at Gettysburg, a 63-acre leadership training center and specialty event destination in historic Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
Shawn earned his B.S degree in Public Policy and his MBA/MPA from the University of Southern California where his studies focused on business marketing, behavioral science and political economy.
DOROTHY WOODS
DDS
Dorothy has extensive experience in the area of wellness and resiliency having served as a Team Lead with DoD and HHS on comprehensive strategy action plans for Warfighter Brain Health and Active Duty Women's Health while serving as Special Assistant to the U.S. Secretary of Defense for HealthCare and Community and Family Policy. Dorothy most recently served as Chief of Staff at USAID/State for global health. Dorothy teaches and trains leadership, resiliency and well-being. As a Gold Star Wife, Dorothy focuses on building and preserving relationships within families and in the workplace. She has been honored by USSOCOM Warrior Care Program and numerous Spec Ops support organizations nationwide for her committed work in wellness and resiliency. Dorothy has served as a General Dental Officer (LT.USNR) and professor of dentistry and the University of Michigan. She continues to practice dentistry in Michigan. Dorothy earned her B.S. in neurophysiology from University of Maryland (UoM) and her DDS for UoM School of Dentistry.
JOE BONVIE
Clinical Psychologist
Joe is a board certified clinical psychologist with extensive experience designing and leading talent acquisition programs and developing sustainment strategies for elite performers and personnel in high risk occupations. Expertise in leadership development and consulting on actionable strategies for optimal individual, team, and organizational performance. With a background in elite athletic performance and over a decade of experience consulting to U.S. Special Operations Forces populations, Joe has been at the forefront of some of the most progressive developments within expeditionary embedded behavioral health care and organizational resiliency program development.
Joe earned his doctorate in clinical psychology from Florida Tech after completing an APA accredited internship at the National Naval Medical Center, in Bethesda, MD. Joe is currently a Captain in the U.S. Navy, serving in Virginia Beach, VA.
ERIK CONKLIN
M.A., Ed.D.
Erik is a Compassion Cultivation Teacher certified at the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education housed at Stanford University’s Medical School, as well as a graduate of U.C.L.A.’s Mindful Awareness Research Center housed at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior.
Erik's research was awarded a David and Lucille Packard Foundation Fellowship for Excellence for Children, Families, and Communities at the University of California, San Diego doctoral leadership program and he is a regular presenter and facilitator at peer-reviewed research conferences. His teaching and coaching experience includes working with athletes, students, parents, researchers, active and U.S. retired military and U.S. government agency intelligence and law enforcement personnel.
JEFF UTSCH
Jeff has 20 years experience training U.S. military Special Operations Forces and 20 years experience in business as president and CEO of a small company.
Using skills he developed as an All-American swimmer, Jeff currently serves as an instructor to the Navy SEALs/ Naval Special Warfare community where he teaches specialized tactical swimming. Through intensive self-study, Jeff has become a scholar and historian with a keen interest in the lessons of American history and the Civil War and can be heard on his iHeart Radio podcast Constitutional Conversations.
Jeff graduated from the University of Arizona where he earned his degree in Aerospace Engineering.
EMILY KRAINES
Emily is a Gold Star Spouse and widow to USAF Sergeant Peter Kraines, a Special Tactics Pararescueman with the 24th Special Operations Wing, who died in 2019 from injuries sustained in a training incident while performing mountain rescue techniques in Idaho. Peter's life was modeled by the motto of his career, "These Things we Do, That Other May Live, Together, Peter and Emily had a focus to love God and love others. Emily has continued to have that as her life focus from the moment she stepped into widowhood. As a Team Lead Instructor in our "Resilient Warrior" Preservation of the Force and Family Wellness program, Emily passionately serves the mental, emotional and physical needs of special operators, their spouses and families. Emily is a marketing graduate of VA Tech University and the mother of two young children.
DR. GLENN FERGUSON
MAJ. (USAF Ret.) Ph.D
Glenn teaches and trains on the applied leadership lessons from the Battle of Gettysburg. He also has a keen focus on helping build resiliency in military families.
He spent 21 years in the U.S. Air Force of which 9 years were spent in Air Force Special Operations. He commanded an Air Force Special Operations Helicopter Unit in Panama; is a master aviator (Command Pilot) with 3,200 flying hours and has expertise with both fixed and rotary wings.
Glenn graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1971. He went on to receive his Master's in international Relations and his Ph.D in American History from Florida State University. Glen taught 13 years as a professor at the U.S. Air Force Academy. He instructed leadership, special operations, combined arms and joint war fighting, military strategy, and theory and doctrine.
ANTHONY NEGRON
Chief Master Sergeant, USAF (ret.)
Tony's commitment to teaching and training leadership, resiliency and wellness come out of his 26-year career as a Pararescueman and Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) operator overseeing some of the most critical and strategic missions in our War on Terror from 2000 to 2006. He is a two-time Bronze Star and Purple Heart recipient. Tony's focus to serve continued after transitioning from the military as CEO of S.E.I. - a company working directly with the Department of Defense in providing training to active duty special operations personnel in Leadership, Medical, Tactical, Mountaineering and Preservation of The Force and Family. Tony is a member of the Board of Directors of the Pararescue Foundation and is the driving force in the organization's mission to support and relieve the physical and psychological demands of the service borne and provide strategy and education on transition, all while honoring and preserving the Pararescue legacy. Tony is also a Co-Founder of Fusion Cell, a company committed to helping veterans navigate transition and reintegrate back into the civilian workforce through education and job placement. Tony attended the Command's University of Virginia Darden School of Business course and has degrees in Applied Science Personnel Recovery and Criminal Justice from the Community College of the Air Force.
LORIE TUBBS
Certified Nutritionist
Lorie is a registered dietitian (RDN), Master Health Science (MS) certified nutritionist for 24 years, public health educator and fitness instructor. Lorie teaches and trains nutrition, health best practices and fitness to our U.S. Special Operations Forces and U.S. Department of Defense. For over 20 years Lorie has supported U.S. military commands with best practices relating to operational performance, health longevity and optimal sustenance required for strenuous training evolutions. Lorie earned a B.S. in Athletic training from San State University and her Masters of Science, Health Sciences from California State University, San Bernardino.
RONALD T. WILLIAMS
CORPORATE SECURITY & CYBER SECURITY
Ron had a 22-year distinguished career with the U.S. Secret Service, serving on the Presidential Protection Detail and protecting four Presidents and many foreign dignitaries. He also supervised the Counterfeit Money Squad, the Financial Fraud Unit, the Intelligence Unit, the Presidential Protection Squad, and the elite Counter Assault Team (CAT) to combat terrorism. Ron transitioned his security expertise to the private sector 25 years ago, where he’s developed and led a world-renown corporate, executive and cyber security risk management consulting firm, Talon Companies. Ron teaches and trains building trusted leaders and building trusted teams. “Trust and security” is everything.
JOSEPH WILLIAM CRUZ DEHAVEN
NATIONAL SECURITY
Joe is currently CEO/President of DEHAVEN CONSULTING GROUP, LLC, and President FORNETIX FEDERAL INC.
Formerly, a member of the Defense Intelligence Senior Executive Service, Joe served 40+ years with the National Security Agency (NSA) and served in an extended partnership with the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). He was appointed as the first Director Space INFOSEC at that NRO and subsequently elevated to the NRO Board of Directors as the Director of Information Assurance. He has been a change agent at the forefront of the design and development of disruptive high-speed systems security solutions to provide a seamless edge-to-edge secure architecture to enable some of our nation’s most critical information systems to include the emerging cyber domain.
U.S. SPECIAL OPERATIONS-
8 TEAM MEMBERS
These retired U.S. Special Operations Forces operators have served dedicated careers training, planning and executing successful team missions.
In the most chaotic, high stress and unpredictable environments imaginable these operators have found success. These master trainers will show how trusted teams successfully mitigate stress, and chaos, exercise sound and decisive judgment, and effectively execute your mission with tenacious integrity.
Due to national security and for the safety of these members with the nature of war on terrorism, the names of these individuals are not for public distribution.